The now ex-Apprentice contestant Paula Jones has blasted her team mate Ben Clarke and accused him of being a “bully” after they metaphorically butted heads in the boardroom.

Before being fired by Sir Alan, Paula had been appointed Project Manager of Empire and was challenged to make “cosmetic products”.

So, taking the reins, she delegated the job of costing the production of their products to Ben and Yasmina Siadatan but a “miscalculation”
led to the team’s costs going up to £1,141.24 and so they lost the task.

Ben denied having been at fault and he and Paula got into a heated row. Paula said, “Ben became completely unnecessarily aggressive towards me…

“I think he took it personally that I took him into the boardroom. He accepted no responsibility whatsoever and just behaved like a child, like a bully.

“He’s very, very opinionated about everybody he comes into contact with and if you’re going to behave in that way you’ve got be pretty slick yourself and he just isn’t. The lad’s a no-mark. And it won’t surprise me if he gets fired fairly soon, because nobody likes a bully.”

However, Paula says she has “no regrets” about being fired, especially as Sir Alan complimented her on the sandalwood and seaweed soap she produced for the show, and he was even complimentary about her management skills.

Paula added, “I had a brilliant firing and you couldn’t ask for any more that that.

“I was a good team manager, I’ve got a lot to offer, my product was fantastic.

“I’d clearly delegated the costings away – I’m aware of my own strengths and the people that I was relying on to deliver on the one area where I couldn’t didn’t do that for me.”

I have to say, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone use that phrase; “I’ve had a brilliant firing…”. Who does that??

Can you imagine strolling into work, late for the tenth time in a row, getting hauled into the manager’s office and sacked but coming out beaming saying, “Oh yeah, I’m well chuffed… got a brilliant firing there…”

Bless her. Good luck for the future Paula!